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Entries for month: July 2013

If you’re a true peanut butter addict, lighten it up with this clever recipe that our guests absolutely love. The addition of carrot purée slashes calories and boosts vitamins. Make sure you have plenty of veggies, whole grain bread, and pretzels for dipping. This recipe makes two cups and lasts up to seven days in the fridge but cannot be frozen!

Seasonal Yoga Retreat with Julie Cielo

August 18-23, 2013

As the seasons change, so do we. Early cultures instinctively felt the natural rhythms and couldn't perceive a separation between self & nature. In our modern world, we have disconnected from these natural cycles of "being" and fallen out of tune with our organic pulse. Indian Summer is a special time of year at the end of summer and before Autumn. It is a period of preparation and readiness for the year's work. Join Yoga Therapist, Holistic Lifestyle Coach, and creator of the Lifestyle Movement called "Seasonal Yin Yang Flow", Julie Cielo on this 5 day Seasonal Yoga Retreat where we will take a closer look into how we reflect nature and how to better align with the natural cycles of change to stay healthy through this transitional period through diet, movement, and lifestyle.

We all want our kids to eat healthy, but one of the biggest challenges we face is how to make healthy meals taste delicious. Below are three nutritious, tasty, and easy-to-make Miraval recipes from Executive Chef Justin Macy that kids will love. Enjoy!

Miraval's Crispy Honey Chicken Fingers with Marinara Sauce

Makes 6 Servings

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 3/4 in. strips

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. water

1 c. corn flakes, crushed (food processor works well for this)

Miraval's Marinara Sauce (recipe follows)

PREHEAT the oven to 425°F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

IN a small bowl, whisk together the honey and water. Soak the chicken in the honey.

PLACE the cornflakes on a plate. Remove chicken strips from honey and coat with cornflakes.

PLACE on a prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over after 5 minutes to evenly brown the chicken fingers.

How much exercise is needed to effectively manage stress and prevent diseases such as coronary heart disease and hypertension?

By: Andrew Wolf, M.S. E.D.

When you think about exercise in regard to disease prevention it is important to keep in perspective the simplicity of exercise. If you think about it all exercise can be broken down into how many calories you burn when you do that exercise. It is important to think of exercise this way because when you want to talk about “how much exercise” you are really asking “how many calories”. The other thing to keep in mind is the unimportance of what you do today and the importance of how much you have done this week. Think of exercise as an accumulation of calorie burning that occurs over seven days not whether or not you did 30-45 minutes on the treadmill today.

Keeping this point in mind I always try to get my clients to think about exercise accumulation. Doing three bouts of exercise that are 60 minutes long or doing 18 bouts of exercise that are 10 minutes long is the same thing when it comes to burning calories and preventing disease. Both approaches have you doing 180 minutes of exercise per week so in the end they are equal.

We were absolutely thrilled to have Chef Brooke Williamson join us for the weekend at Miraval. Not only was she a hit in the kitchen with our culinary team but our guests loved learning from her during her (delicious!) cooking demonstrations. Here's some of the photos we captured of her visit cooking with Miraval's Executive Chef Justin Macy.